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Key Takeaways
- About one in five Americans age 65 or older is still working, showing retirement often includes some continued employment.
- Many older workers shift to part-time roles, with a much higher share working reduced hours than those ages 55 to 64.
- After declining for decades, the share of people working later in life has trended upward since the 1990s, with a brief pandemic dip.
Retirement doesn’t always mean stepping away from work for good. For many Americans, the line between working and retiring is more flexible than it used to be—and that shift is showing up in the data.
How Many Americans Work Beyond Age 65?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a significant share of older Americans remain in the workforce. In 2024, nearly 20% of people age 65 and older were either working or actively looking for work.
That includes both full- and part-time roles. About 12% of Americans 65 or older work full-time, while roughly 7.5% work part-time.
Among those who are working, the mix shifts noticeably toward shorter hours. More than a third of workers age 65 and older (38.3%) work part-time, compared with only about one in seven workers ages 55–64 (14.2%).
The data also show that men are more likely than women to continue working later in life. In 2024, 23.4% of men age 65 and older were in the workforce, compared with 16.2% of women.
Why This Matters
More Americans are working later in life, whether by choice or necessity. That shift makes it important to plan for income, savings, and flexibility in retirement.
Working Past 65 Isn’t New—But It’s Changed
Working later in life may feel like a growing trend, but the data tells a more complicated story. In fact, a larger share of older Americans were working in the decades after World War II than is the case today.
But labor force participation among people 65 and older fell steadily through the second half of the 20th Century, reaching a low point in the 1980s and 1990s, when only about 11% to 12% were still working.
Since then, the trend has reversed. Participation began climbing again in the late 1990s and continued rising for years. While the pandemic briefly interrupted that upward trajectory, the share has since resumed its climb, reflecting longer lifespans, shifting work patterns, and financial pressures that keep some Americans in the workforce.
What Working Later in Life Means for You
For many Americans, retirement is becoming less of a fixed endpoint and more of a transition. Rather than stopping work altogether, some are choosing—or needing—to stay in the workforce in some capacity.
That shift reflects a mix of factors. Some older adults continue working to supplement savings or keep up with rising costs, while others stay on the job for social connection, purpose, or a gradual move into retirement through part-time work.
Together, those trends point to a more flexible approach to retirement planning. Income may come from a mix of sources—including Social Security, savings, and, for some, continued work—making it important to plan for both financial stability and adaptability over time.
Read the original article on Investopedia
